Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended and no profit is being made from this story. All rights reserved to J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.


Chapter Two


Elizabeth Rose Granger

11 November 2001 – 29 October 2006

A strong wind blew past me as I stood in the middle of graveyard, in front of the tombstone under which my daughter lay. I closed my eyes as I wrapped my sweater around my body tightly, pretending that my arms were my daughter's arms, hugging me after I've given her favorite double stuff Oreos.

I opened my eyes and I was hit by the fact that my daughter would never be able to hug me anymore. Not ever. Not even if I long for her to do so every day for the rest of my pathetic life.

I looked down on the green grass at my feet, envisioning Lizzie's small white casket beneath my feet, buried six feet below the very ground I was currently stepping on.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Harry, who had insisted on accompanying me on this visit, asked. He wrapped his left arm around my shoulder and held me close to him.

I simply nodded and continued staring at the cold-looking tombstone in front of us. Minutes of complete silence passed until I turned to look Harry in the eyes.

"She would have been four today, Harry..." I muttered, biting my lip as I attempted to thwart my tears from falling. I wasn't going to cry. I should not. It would worry Harry and everyone who cared for me again, and then they'd treat me as though I was an invalid, as though a weak gust of air would topple me anytime. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and when I finally succeeded in keeping the tears in, I smiled wryly. "My baby never got to celebrate her fourth birthday."

Harry looked at me worriedly. "Hermione..."

I waved my hand at him dismissively. "I told you not to worry about me. I just want to talk about Lizzie, okay?" He nodded. "I promised to give her a Cinderella doll. I've already bought it, Harry. Have I told you about that? It's hidden in my closet."

"Hermione, please stop," my best friend whispered, hugging me tighter to him. "Please stop pretending you're okay. It's alright. Don't worry about worrying us, Hermione. Cry to your heart's content. Don't allow us to stop you."

"I was going to throw her a huge birthday party. I was going to invite all the Weasley kids and all our neighbours in London," I continued as though Harry hadn't said a thing. "I was going to dress her in a Cinderella costume. She loved Cinderella too much."

Each sentence served as a stone bearing down on my heart but I kept at it. I laughed, although it was painfully obvious that I was faking it. "I'm talking about my daughter in the past tense. It feels weird, Harry."

This time, Harry wrapped both of his arms around me. My face was buried in his chest and I heard him give out a long sigh. "This is killing me, Hermione. I hate seeing you like this."

We both fell silent for a while. I listened to the wind whistling past us, the rustle of the leaves from the trees and the faint sound of vehicles passing on the street.

"If this is killing you, Harry, imagine what this does to me," I whispered into his chest.

"I know, sweetheart. I know." He held me away from him and tipped my chin up as he gently kissed my forehead. "Remember, we're here for you. I'm here for you. You know I love you, right?"

I was about to nod in answer to his question but I caught a glimpse of someone walking toward our direction. As the figure got nearer, I gasped. I felt my heart suddenly drum faster.

What was he doing here? My eyes blurred with tears as I looked at him approaching us.

Hurriedly, I escaped from my friend's arms and before I knew it, I was running to him. I was already a few meters away when Harry realized what was happening.

"Hermione, no!" He started to run after me but he was too late.

I had already launched myself at Draco Malfoy, the bastard responsible for my daughter's death – not directly responsible but still.

I pushed him, kicked him, slapped him many times but he just stood there, a blank expression on his face, taking all my hits as though they did not hurt him.

I hit him again and again; my desire to hurt him like he hurt me was so great that I felt like I had lost my sanity. I wanted him to scream; I wanted to draw his blood.

"You bloody bastard! How dare you show yourself here!"

"Hermione, stop it!" Harry had finally caught up with me and immediately tore me away from Malfoy. But not before I was able to leave a long bleeding scratch on his right cheek. I wanted to let out a triumphant shout after I drew blood from him.

"Go away!" I still screamed at Draco, all the while trying to break free from Harry's iron grasp. When I realized that my efforts were futile, I turned to Harry, my eyes pleading, "Harry, make him disappear. I don't want my daughter's murderer here."

"I can't do that. He's her father."

"He lost his right to claim Lizzie as his daughter when allowed her to be left in Astoria Greengrass' hands!"

It was during this argument that I saw him going nearer my daughter's grave. Adrenaline coursed through my entire body and I was able to dislodge myself from Harry. I ran after Malfoy and grabbed the sleeves of his black polo shirt to prevent him from going any farther. In my peripheral view, I spied Harry attempting to get me away from Malfoy. In a split second, I took out my wand and pointed it at my friend, not minding the fact that quite a few Muggles were around us. "Not one move from you, Harry, or I swear to Merlin I'll blast you to smithereens."

"But Hermione –"

"Shut up, Harry!" I screamed. "And you," I continued, addressing Malfoy. "Get the hell away from my daughter. I don't want to see you here again. I forbid you to visit her. I forbid you to show your face to me again. I want you to disappear in my life once and for all. You have caused me nothing but heartache and I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Leave me the hell alone, Malfoy!"

His silver eyes flashed dangerously, his breathing became faster and shorter and he stared at me with anger in his eyes. He moved, and involuntarily, I flinched. I thought he was going to hurt me. He didn't. Instead, he shook his arm free from my grasp. I quickly directed my wand to his face. I suddenly felt the need to protect myself from him.

"I didn't want this to happen," I heard him say in a voice so low that it was almost a whisper.

"I don't care. Just go away."

He stepped forward, and I moved backward. I backed into Harry, who quickly laid his hands on my shoulder, silently letting me borrow his own strength.

"I didn't want this, Hermione. Elizabeth's death had pained me as much as it had pained you. I've only known her for a short period of time and that fact hurts me more. You have been with her all her life. I've only known her for six months. I know it was and still is heartbreaking to lose someone whom you've cared for since the day she was born, but I'll have you know that it also hurts to lose someone you wish you had spent more time with."

He let out a long-suffering sigh and then handed me a long-stemmed white rose. "I understand you. I really do. Just give her this, please, if that's not too much to ask."

I just stared at the beautiful flower in his hand, not sure if I should accept it or not. An ominous silence filled the air surrounding us until Harry stepped forward to get the rose from Malfoy's hand.

"I'll give it to her," Harry said, nodding to the blond wizard.

Malfoy gave Harry a tight smile and then looked at me. "Goodbye, Hermione."

I directed my gaze to the other side, avoiding his penetrating stare. "Just go away," I said harshly.

He nodded solemnly and with eyes downcast, he began to walk.

I watched as Draco Malfoy walked away from my life for the second, and hopefully final, time. The first time he said goodbye left my heart into tiny, broken shards. This time, watching him walk away felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest once more. It felt as though someone had stomped upon my heart, crushing it beyond repair. I couldn't understand why I felt like that, when it was I who had insisted on his absence in the first place.

I knelt in front of Lizzie's grave and I closed my eyes.

I heard the sounds that Harry made as he knelt down beside me.

I took in a lungful of air and after holding it in for a few seconds, I let it out, hoping that it would take with it all the unhappiness I was currently feeling.

It didn't do me any good. The grief was there to stay.

And so I opened my eyes, only to have them fill with tears when I saw the white rose lying on Elizabeth's resting place.

Like raindrops, my tears fell on the ground as the combination of misery and loneliness filled my whole being. It was so terrible, all these feelings inside me. I just wanted to die, so that I could be free of this never-ending pain. It was slowly eating me away.

With eyes blurred by tears, I looked at my daughter's date of death on the tombstone. I couldn't help but rue the day I met Draco Malfoy again six years ago.